An Economy of Grace
Kehinde Wiley is an American artist best known for portraits that feature African Americans in the traditional settings of Old Master paintings. Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace group of paintings represents a significant departure from Wiley’s previous subject matter by depicting African American women, his first-ever series dedicated to female subjects. The models for the paintings were cast on the streets of New York City. Chosen by Wiley at the Louvre, Their poses are based on historical portraits of society women by Jacques-Louis David, Thomas Gainsborough and John Singer Sargent, among others. For the first time, custom-made couture gowns were created specifically for each of the models by Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy. The resulting paintings to be shown in An Economy of Grace are a celebration of black women, creating a rightful place for them within art history, which has to date been an almost exclusively white domain.
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Made By Design
Netflix presents Made by Design, is a 13-part series created and co-produced by Design Week Lagos founder Titi Ogufere, and co-produced by Emmy award-winning filmmaker Abiola Matesun. It depicts the concept of African design as multi-faceted and can be considered a knowledge depository of Nigerian design. The first season uses megacity Nigeria as a focal point. Giving viewers a deeper look into the complexities of Nigerian design, it showcases the highs, the lows and everything in between whilst exhibiting some of the country’s most prominent talents.
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The Stolen Soul – Looted Art From Africa
Released in 2020, visual Anthropologist Almut Diedem shot the DW documentary “The Stolen Soul – Looted Art from Africa” at the places of origin of the looted artifacts. She portrays African perspectives on the theme of history and sheds light on the controversial issue of the return of looted art highlighting perspectives from Nigeria, Cameroon and Namibia.
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